Facebook, LinkedIn Changing Employee-Recruitment Methods: Report

The rise of social media, particularly Facebook and LinkedIn, is changing the way businesses find new talent.

Social media sites are changing the way
businesses look for talent, according to a survey of more than 150 human
resources and recruiting executives, directors and managers conducted in March
2012 by Research Now on behalf of social enterprise talent management
specialist Jobscience.
Thirty-six percent of survey respondents said
they plan to use social media behemoth Facebook more for recruiting this year
than they did in 2011. Facebook placed
second, behind LinkedIn, as the most used social networking site for
recruiting.

Prospective employees are also using social
media to find the right job, the survey indicated, with 52 percent of U.S.
corporations believing that social networks are an important venue for
businesses to attract candidates. Study participants believe social media recruiting
is here to stay, as 60 percent said reaching a greater number of qualified
candidates through social media networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook would be
the next "big thing" in recruiting strategies.

"Using social networks to find
candidates for current job openings has become a common strategy for
recruiters," Ted Elliott, CEO and founder of Jobscience, said in prepared
remarks. "But the real value of social recruiting is when companies
continually engage with people through social networkingso when an appropriate
job opens upthe person is familiar with the company and has a propensity to
want to work there. It's about social sourcing and building pipelines of talentso
your talent pool never runs dry."
LinkedIn, which caters
specifically to people actively employed or seeking employment, still dominates
the landscape. Eighty-six percent of respondents said LinkedIn was the social network
that matters. Facebook followed, with 51 percent, while rival Google+ trailed in
third place, with 26 percent. Perhaps due to the limited amount of information
users can post on microblogging site Twitter, that platform ranked as the least
important social network for recruiting, mentioned by only 16 percent of
respondents.
"As Facebook becomes the most relevant
place on the Webit is also putting a face on the 'employment brand' of
companies," Elliott continued. "Information about a company is no
longer solely controlled by recruiters. Candidates and employees are using
social media to gather information about companies. If companies want to
attract top talent, they need a strategy for their employment brandwhich includes
monitoring how their brand is perceived on social networks, facilitating a
social dialog and giving compelling reasons for people to work at their
company."

Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.